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between these two enterprises. The power plant sold steam to the refinery to use in
processing, and the refinery provided the power plant with fuel gas and cooling water.
Both enterprises produce low-level energy in the form of steam that is used for district
heating of homes and commercial buildings. The heat is also used in a large greenhouse
operation, as well as in a fish-farming enterprise. Another big player in the Kalundborg
industrial ecosystem is the Novo Nordisk pharmaceutical plant, which receives steam
from the energy suppliers. This huge enterprise makes 40% of the world’s supply of
insulin as well as industrial enzymes. Fermentation processes in this plant generate
excess yeast, which is used as protein supplement for swine. The plant produces large
quantities of biological sludge, which, along with wastewater treatment sludge from
the waste and wastewater treatment plant associated with the the fish farm, is used as
fertilizer and soil conditioner in area farms.
The Kalundborg industrial ecosystem is often cited for the spontaneous way in which
it developed, beginning in the 1960s with steam and electricity provided to the petroleum
refinery from the power plant. Some of the enterprises were driven by required measures
to lower pollution. As a result of the requirement for lime scrubbing of the stack gas from
the power plant, large quantities of calcium sulfate were produced, which were used to
manufacture gypsum wallboard for buildings. Air pollution control measures resulted in
the substitution of clean burning hydrocarbons from the petroleum refinery in place of
some of the coal to generate electricity in the power plant. The requirement to remove
sulfur from petroleum led to the development of a sulfuric acid plant.
It is interesting to consider the conditions that lead to such a well developed
industrial ecosystem at Kalundborg. It did not develop from directives from any
centralized authority, but rather from agreements between various entities acting in
their own corporate self-interests. A rather close social system that promoted contact
between individuals was helpful. The relatively small geographic area involved has been
helpful in enabling facile communication and the transfer of materials and energy among
the various enterprises. This is especially so in that several of the main commodities
involved — steam, water, waste treatment sludge — cannot be shipped economically for
any great distances.
11.7. Environmental Impacts of Industrial Ecosystems
The practice of industrial ecology in the anthrosphere certainly has profound potential
effects upon the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. Anthrospheric
influences may range from highly localized effects to global effects, such as greenhouse
warming or stratospheric ozone depletion. The magnitude of the effects may be minor,
or they may be catastrophic. Until relatively recently, the effects of human activities on
the surrounding environment were of relatively little concern, resulting in neglect that
is the cause of many of the environmental problems that exist even today. However, the
proper practice of industrial ecology requires that con sideration be given to the various
influences that anthrospheric activities have upon the surrounding environ ment.
Consider the kinds of effects that industrial activities may have upon the natural
environmental spheres. One of the most obvious influences is upon the atmosphere